Oak Park outhits Glenbard North
Glenbard North did something Monday night that no other baseball team has done to Oak Park-River Forest this postseason: Score more than one run.
The Panthers just didn't score enough.
Oak Park held off Glenbard North 7-5 to advance to Friday's Class 4A semifinals out of the supersectional at Schaumburg Boomers Stadium.
"We fell just short today. They just outdid us today," Glenbard North coach Rich Smelko said.
Of course the Panthers had allowed just 1 run in the postseason, so they were a little off balance when Oak Park (32-7) scored a run in the first inning and two more in the second.
"It's why we coach kids," said Oak Park coach Chris Ledbetter, whose team had only allowed a run to Loyola in the sectional semifinal. "There's just so much unexpected. I guess big-league managers or college coaches at the major schools don't have this, but how a kid reacts to the bright lights is a major part of what affects the outcome of games.
"When we dropped that 3-spot on them, we hadn't given up a run in the playoffs (except against Loyola) and I think we were feeling comfortable, like this was going to be easy."
The Panthers (26-11) made sure it wasn't.
Mark Cerabona led off the third inning with a walk and one out later went to third base on Nolan Jasinski's single to right field. Both scored on Nick Barrett's double that one-hopped the wall in center field.
Barrett scored on Luke Greenberg's single to left, and the teams moved through the middle innings tied at 3.
"We fell behind early and came back to tie it up," Smelko said. "We've been kind of resilient like that all year long. We haven't been behind too much, but the times we have, we've always fought back and tied up or taken the lead. I'm extremely proud of how these guys competed today and all year long."
Both teams scored again in the sixth, but the Huskies got the better of it. Ryan Fish's one out triple with the bases loaded broke the tie, and Fish scored on Pat Rumoro's single to put the Huskies ahead 7-3.
Glenbard North responded in its half of the inning. Zach Heck singled. Greenberg followed with a walk, and Sam Ledbetter's double brought in two runs.
"We tried to put kids in positions to be successful, and a lot of kids contributed to this," Ledbetter said.
The Panthers got the tying run on base with one out in the seventh inning. Jasinski reached on a bunt single and went to second base when Barrett was hit by a pitch. With Andrew Nudo running for Barrett, both runners moved up on a wild pitch. They were stranded there on a groundout to the pitcher and another to the shortstop.
That ended the game, but not the Panthers' memories of a successful season.
"I believe it's the most wins in Glenbard North baseball history," Smelko said, "and winning the DVC, winning a regional, winning a sectional, making it to the Elite Eight here with a chance to make it to the state finals in Joliet, I couldn't ask for anything more than that. It's been a really good season, and it's something to look back on in the future."
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